The Public Health Case A Crisis at the Clinic Door On a humid morning in Nellmapius, Pretoria, Grace (not her real name) arrives at her local clinic carrying her nine-month-old daughter, burning with fever. At the triage desk, the nurse asks for a South African ID. Grace presents her Zimbabwean passport, its documentation expired. As […]
When Chronic Illness Meets Barriers: Migrants Struggling to Access Medication in South Africa A human story, and why it matters In early 2025, a 34‑year-old Zimbabwean woman — we’ll call her “Amina” — living in Johannesburg was diagnosed with hypertension. After losing her job, she could no longer afford private care. At her local public
Chronic Disease Care for Migrants in Pretoria: Diabetes and Hypertension Access Opening: Why This Matters — A Case Study In a small flat in Pretoria North, “Amina” (not her real name), a 49‑year-old woman from Zimbabwe, checks her blood pressure. She has lived in Tshwane for over 8 years, working informal jobs and supporting two
TB and Migration: Is South Africa’s Health System Ready Opening: Snapshot & Case Study In 2023, South Africa recorded roughly 270,000 new tuberculosis (TB) cases and an estimated 56,000 deaths. (tbac.org.za) Although the country reduced TB incidence by 51% since 2015, the burden remains high. South Africa also hosts a large migrant population. The 2022
Climate Change and Rural-Urban Migration: Health Policy Implications for South Africa’s Eastern Cape and Limpopo When the Land Runs Dry: The Human Face of Migration Thembisile’s Journey Thembisile, a 34-year-old mother of three from rural Limpopo, spent two decades cultivating maize and vegetables on her family’s land. Between 2020 and 2024, successive droughts destroyed her
A Health Systems Perspective When Numbers Tell Human Stories Mariam arrived in Johannesburg from Zimbabwe in 2021. She was seven months pregnant. At the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, she waited six hours before healthcare workers asked for her documentation. They spoke in isiZulu and seTswana—languages she didn’t understand. Eventually, staff members told her
How Post-Apartheid SADC Migration Transforms South African Cities Read More »
